Massive AT&T Data Breach: Senators Demand Answers

Senators Richard Blumenthal and Josh Hawley have questioned AT&T regarding an April hacking incident that compromised 109 million customer accounts. The senators highlight the potential risks posed by the breach and seek assurances on consumer compensation. The FBI is currently investigating, and AT&T has pledged to respond directly.

Two U.S. senators on Tuesday demanded answers from AT&T regarding a major hacking incident in April that saw the illegal download of 109 million customer accounts. The breach, disclosed by the company on Friday, involved significant data comprising six months of customer call and text records from 2022.

Senators Richard Blumenthal and Josh Hawley expressed grave concerns in a letter to AT&T CEO John Stankey, pointing out the potential dangers the stolen information poses to customer privacy and safety. They questioned whether AT&T would compensate affected consumers. AT&T promised a direct response to the senators.

The senators underscored the possibility of the stolen data being sold to criminals or foreign intelligence agencies. In a separate letter to Snowflake, they voiced worries over other data breaches among Snowflake clients, stressing the need to understand the full extent of the issue.

The FBI is investigating the breach, with at least one arrest made. The attack on AT&T follows a ransomware incident affecting UnitedHealth Group's Change Healthcare unit in February, which compromised a substantial portion of Americans' private data. The Federal Communications Commission is also conducting an investigation.

In March, AT&T announced an investigation into data exposed on the 'dark web,' believed to impact around 7.6 million current and 65.4 million former account holders. This data set is suspected to be from 2019 or earlier.

(With inputs from agencies.)